For the third academic year in a row, Ohio University’s Budget Planning Council has recommended increasing the cost of education for students by asking for a tuition increase. Like the increase approved by the Board of Trustees last year, BPC has asked for another 3.5-percent hike in student tuition next year.
University administrators cite an anticipated rise in utilities and health care costs, desired investments in safety maintenance projects, and increased Internet bandwidth throughout campus as their rationale for the increase.
And, in the current economic climate, we know the university is certainly in need of any revenue it can get ahold of.
But the rising tuition costs continue to lessen higher-education accessibility for students throughout the state.
The increase would bring in-state tuition to more than $10,000 per year, notably higher than many other Ohio colleges, including our neighbors to the north. Each year, Ohio State students pay $9,735 in tuition.
By continuing to add to the amount students must pay for an OU education, the university is further disenfranchising students who are struggling to afford the cost of education as it is.
The more often OU’s Board of Trustees raises tuition, the fewer Ohioans (who subsidize the university through their tax dollars) will be able to take advantage of the excellent educational opportunities offered here.
If more people are inhibited from attending a university or college, the less likely we will be able to inject educated people into our workforce. With fewer people creating jobs, our economy will continue to fail.
The root of the tuition problem lies in the sour economy. But the fix to the economy lies equally in access to education. The more a quality higher education costs, the fewer people will be qualified for degree-requiring occupations. And those who manage to attend school will be strapped with even higher tallies of loan money.
Currently, students in the U.S. owe more than $1 trillion in student-loan debt. Universities willing to annually increase the costs of education will compound only America’s student loan problem.
Before increasing tuition, the university needs to evaluate its own spending habits and recognize what we don’t need in the very near future instead of crossing investments off their “wish list.” In hard economic times such as these, cutting back spending can be just as effective.
Although a tuition increase will help the university financially in the short run, it will hinder the students who already rely on student-loan debt by adding onto the bills that they could already be struggling to cover.
Higher education shouldn’t be a lofty and out-of-reach goal for the average American — or the average Ohioan.
Before OU increases tuition, the Budget Planning Council should consider the effect such an increase — recommended in closed-door meetings — will have on the thousands of students who turn to OU for their education aspirations.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
